Joseph Edward Willard

{{Infobox officeholder

| birthname = Joseph Edward Willard

| name = Joseph Edward Willard

| image = J.E. Willard LCCN2014693220 (3x4a).jpg

| office = 36th United States Ambassador to Spain

| president = Woodrow Wilson

| term_start = October 31, 1913

| term_end = July 7, 1921

| predecessor = Henry Clay Ide

| successor = Cyrus Woods

| office2 = Member of the Virginia State
Corporation Commission

| term_start2 = October 1, 1905

| term_end2 = February 18, 1910

| predecessor2 = Henry Fairfax

| successor2 = J. Richard Wingfield

| order3 = 19th

| office3 = Lieutenant Governor of Virginia

| term_start3 = January 1, 1902

| term_end3 = February 1, 1906

| governor3 = Andrew J. Montague

| predecessor3 = Edward Echols

| successor3 = James Taylor Ellyson

| office4 = Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Fairfax County

| term_start4 = December 6, 1893

| term_end4 = December 4, 1901

| predecessor4 = R. C. Triplett

| successor4 = R. E. Lee, Jr.

| birth_date = {{birth date|1865|5|1}}

| birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1924|4|4|1865|5|1}}

| death_place = Manhattan, New York, U.S.

| resting_place = Oak Hill Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.

| spouse = Belle Layton Wyatt

| alma_mater = Virginia Military Institute

| profession =

| party =

| religion =

| relations = Antonia Ford (mother)
Kermit Roosevelt (son-in-law) Mervyn Herbert (son-in-law)

}}

Joseph Edward Willard (May 1, 1865 – April 4, 1924) was an American politician, philanthropist, and diplomat.

Early life

The son of prominent Washington hotelier and Union Army commissary major Joseph Clapp Willard (1820–1897) and former Confederate spy Antonia Ford, Joseph Willard had two brothers who died in infancy.

Career

Willard served for eight years in the Virginia House of Delegates, prior to his election as the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. He held that office from 1902 through 1906, leaving after an unsuccessful run for governor. The Virginia General Assembly then elected him a commissioner of the relatively new Virginia State Corporation Commission, where he served for four years.

In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Willard as the United States Ambassador to Spain. Upon the outbreak of World War I Willard was vacationing in the United States and returned to Europe aboard the {{USS|Tennessee|ACR-10|6}}, although his daughter, Belle, was sick with typhoid fever (she would recover)."Cruiser Off With $5,750,000 in Gold to Aid Americans," New York World, Aug. 7, 1914. Ambassador Willard held his position under successive presidents of both political parties until shortly before his death.

Personal life

Willard and his wife, Belle Layton Wyatt (1869–1954), had two daughters, Belle Wyatt, (1892–1968) who later married Kermit Roosevelt on June 10, 1914, and Mary Elizabeth, (1898-1979) who later married The Hon. Mervyn Herbert, third son of 4th Earl of Carnarvon, in 1921.

His daughter, Belle, and Roosevelt had four children:

Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (1916-2000); married Mary Lowe Gaddis (1917-2013) and had four children.
Joseph Willard Roosevelt (1918-2008); married (1) Nancy Thayer/Cummings, daughter of poet E.E. Cummings and had two children; married (2) Carole Adele Russell and had three children.
Belle Wyatt Roosevelt (1919-1985); married John Gorham Palfrey Jr., grandson of John G. Palfrey, 2nd great-grandson of William Palfrey, and grand-nephew of Francis Winthrop Palfrey; had three children.
Dirck Roosevelt (1925-1953)

Willard had at least 12 grandchildren, including Mark Roosevelt; his great-grandchildren include Kermit Roosevelt III, John Palfrey and Quentin Palfrey.

= Death =

File:Joseph Willard tomb - Amphitheater section - Oak Hill Cemetery - 2013-09-04.jpg]]

Willard died in Manhattan, New York, on April 4, 1924. His remains were returned to Washington, D.C.,{{citation needed |date=August 2022}} for burial at Oak Hill cemetery.{{Cite web |url=https://www.oakhillcemeterydc.org/app/themes/oakhill/assets/records/Ue.pdf |title=Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C. (Amphitheater) - Lot U East |website=oakhillcemeterydc.org |access-date=2022-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308062258/https://www.oakhillcemeterydc.org/app/themes/oakhill/assets/records/Ue.pdf |archive-date=2022-03-08 |url-status=live}}